If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

I dig the matchups. Omega and Cody will deliver a good one on this stage. Hiromu and Dragon Lee will attempt to kill each other once again. Even freakin' Haku is going to be on the card and will probably destroy someone.

Adding Takahashi vs. Lee is a big boost for me, one of my favorite in ring rivalries of the decade so far! And HAKU!! Awesome! The rest of the card looks ok. I do hope they manage to sell out, even though I still feel like they maybe didn't bring their A+ game to make it happen.

is it really a bad look if they are a few thousand short of selling out? I don't think they've bombed and this should only tell them that they need to be at better venues imo. Its a new japan card with plenty of singles matches and title matches. The only way they could have done better is if Mysterio or Jericho were on the card.

Not an apologist.. but i don't think its terrible to not sell out here.. especially since ALL in is two months later and had/has more of the buzz.

100% agree that All In had a big impact on this. The fanbase they're looking for is a traveling crowd, and they kind of had to make a choice here.

It's not terrible if they don't sell out, but it could hurt the overall buzz of the promotion if the feeling is that they've plateaued in the American market already. I'd hate to see expansion attempts stall out as a result.

I do agree that its a traveling crowd, however, i think tapping into other markets, making your shows even more special by having something big happen on them is the key to continued growth. I also think they might have thought having westerners as champs would be a draw but its really not imo.

Yeah, that's a misconception for sure. Omega is a big draw but nobody gives a shit about Jay White for example. Fans were drawn to New Japan mostly because their top guys were just that good, not because some of them were American.

Yeah if we're being honest, New japan turned around with Nakamura and Tanahashi. I was into New Japan right when they were at their peak, Okada helped that immensely of course and you had a bulit in base over here already. Not discounting what AJ did, or Omega has done but its not the hook for people some think. The good wrestling is.

Having said that, I do think having good foreigners people root for here does help some... Its like a bonus. Really feel they just have to push the right guys. Juice and Adam Page are way better than Jay White but Jay White was a young boy.. they weren't.

I don't know if they're going to sell out or not but several people who have gone onto ticket sites have said that the floor and the bowl seats near ringside are all but gone (the floor seats are completely sold out in fact). So they're definitely selling more now than they did at the start and I imagine that will increase now that the full card is out.

At the end of the day I just want a good show. And this, while not Dominion or Wrestle Kingdom, looks like a great show. Hiromu vs. Dragon Lee will be outstanding like always. I anticipate Juice Robinson will win the US title against Jay White, which should be one hell of a moment given how over Juice is (the match should be good too as both guys are underrated). I personally thought the Kenny-Cody match at Supercard was underrated and it should be even better this time now that the story has advanced. And don't sleep on Goto vs. Jeff Cobb, the Ospreay/Okada vs. Naito/Bushi tag or the Bucks vs EVIL and SANADA, which was awesome on Dominion. I would be stunned if this isn't better than the show in Long Beach earlier this year.

I would be, too. Cody vs. Omega was alright, but the stuff with Brandi at the end and a little sloppiness by Cody had me lower it some. If everything works perfectly in this one, it could be really special. There actually isn't a match on this card I'm not looking forward to in some way; I couldn't say that about Dominion.

I think it's going to be a great one. This is Omega's first title defense and he's going to make sure the match showcases what he can do and drive Cody to do the same.

Speaking of Omega, he was on X-Pac's podcast recently. I just read the highlights and it sounded like a fun interview. Some things that were interesting:

- He mentioned that he didn't want to face Ibushi so soon but Gedo basically begged them for it and they agreed. He did warn that it wasn't going to be an all-out crazy match like they had years ago, I'm sure to save that for a more special occasion.
- He already has big ideas planned for the next encounter with Okada.
- He mentioned wanting to defend the title against Naito and Tanahashi down the road, also including that apparently he and Tanahashi don't particularly like each other in real life. Not sure why that is - maybe it's just a difference of opinion in how they both view wrestling and stuff.
- Probably my favorite bit was that he mentioned that he would love to face Shuji Ishikawa. Dear wrestling gods, please make that happen as soon as possible.

YouTube nuked Showbuckle's page a few months ago. ShowBuckle, if you were aware, had been making NJPW videos to help the English speaking audience get used to stories and such. That with Real Neat Puro (who was also nuked) were highly regarded.

He mentioned wanting to defend the title against Naito and Tanahashi down the road, also including that apparently he and Tanahashi don't particularly like each other in real life. Not sure why that is - maybe it's just a difference of opinion in how they both view wrestling and stuff.

I can actually see them really disagreeing on this kind of stuff. I'm not the biggest Tana fan but I respect that he champions a safer style than most New Japan guys work. Omega, on the other hand, likes to dump himself neck first onto concrete. I could easily see Tana thinking he's a bad influence on the next generation who might cripple themselves trying to keep up, like Shibata did.

That said, Omega/Ishikawa is actually way more interesting to me than any combination New Japan could put together. I agree, pull out all the stops to make that one happen.

I've only seen a handful of Shuji Ishikawa matches that are on the All Japan streaming service, so I don't know if those are close to his best from other companies he wrestles for like DDT. But I really dug his Triple Crown Championship matches against Kento Miyahara last year:

That Prince Devit video was top class. Such a shame content like that is off limits despite it clearly being 'transformative' under fair use. I really enjoy video editing and would love to do some WWE pieces like that but there is zero point when they will immediately be taken down.

On the content, I never realised Balor/Devit went in so deep with NJPW, going through their dojo system and everything. How does his WWE presentation compare to what he was like in NJPW?

The Omega stuff is very interesting to me. I think you are under estimating how much of a hook he has been for some, sure they have built up a base and have a really good product but just speaking for myself and my one real life wrestling friend, neither of us had any interest in NJPW until the Omega/Okada matches. He has been the gateway drug for both of us, exposing us to a larger world.

I'm hoping Meng / Haku sticks around for a little bit. He added a whole lot during the G1 Special. I was even more impressed he was speaking fluent Japanese in the post-match interview. I didn't realize he's spent a significant amount of time in Japan for both wrestling and sumo in the past.

I'm hoping Meng / Haku sticks around for a little bit. He added a whole lot during the G1 Special. I was even more impressed he was speaking fluent Japanese in the post-match interview. I didn't realize he's spent a significant amount of time in Japan for both wrestling and sumo in the past.

Thanks for the lookout on that match.

Yeah, Haku was trained in AJPW under Baba.

“Stoop to your own level. Your nature. Trust yourself. And most importantly... You have to learn what laws are really laws and not… Oppression."

I ain't gonna lie, I try to follow NJPW, but between WWE (which is less and less) and CMLL, and kids, I rarely have time to follow AAA, let alone NJPW. But to see Haku back makes me happy. I laughed at someone online who was tripping balls that Haku and his boys killed the rest of the Bullet Club. If his boys are half as tough as Haku was in real life, I'd imagine it would take all of NJPW to bring them down. As for Haku, I love that they call him King Haku, I knew he trained in Japan but didn't know he spoke fluent Japanese, and I think to see him as a manager role for his boys would be amazing. Like in the old days former wrestlers like Blassie, Heenan, they transitioned into managers but were not seen as tough. Haku outside, as a manager to his boys, that would add a whole other level of danger in the presentation that I don't remember seeing outside of bodyguard gimmicks like Diesel. But in those roles you are always waiting for the bodyguard to turn on the heel, in this case, it's the dad and he's Fuckin' King Haku!

It's just so easy for me to believe that Haku could still mow down the whole Club by himself, without even needing his kids to pitch in. The man has such an aura, it's amazing to me that he was never pushed more than he was in his prime. Maybe they were afraid if they gave him a title, nobody would be tough enough to take it back if he decided to play hardball.

As much as i really enjoy Haku, he is 59 and I think it would be a bad idea to try to push him as a main event guy... a guy that hits his piledriver in six mans.... or a manager... fine.

That's the only role I see him, managing his sons, or getting the last move and pin in a 6 man. With that said, I think him being there adds a lot of danger to the Tongans presentation. You can say he's 59 all you want, have you ever tried to test your strength with a tough old bastard of a man. It's like trying to chew on leather thinking it's beef jerky. Haku is that old tough bastard that will still beat the shit out of any man half his age.

let me expand, i think the act works in New Japan just not as a main event because its not how Gedo books that scene... Like you need someone high enough to really build. Tama is the only guy to do that with and he's not on the Okada/Naito/Omega/Tanahashi/ibushi level... so it would be really out of left field to do it considering how Gedo books.

let me expand, i think the act works in New Japan just not as a main event because its not how Gedo books that scene... Like you need someone high enough to really build. Tama is the only guy to do that with and he's not on the Okada/Naito/Omega/Tanahashi/ibushi level... so it would be really out of left field to do it considering how Gedo books.

Just saying, Tama's in the same block as Goto.

“Stoop to your own level. Your nature. Trust yourself. And most importantly... You have to learn what laws are really laws and not… Oppression."

I think this is all to set up Tama as one of the guys who beats Kenny in the G1 to set up a title match in the fall...and then that's it. It was an exciting angle and all but people need to remember that Tama Tonga got a shot in the G1 last year and was, at best, average. Not a single match of his was memorable and that was against guys like Omega and such. It's why I always chuckle when people say "it's Tama's time, Tama's ready for the push!" He does a few things well, he has charisma and he's a great tag team wrestler, but that's it. I saw enough last year to know that if New Japan gave him a serious push it would just disappoint people, and unless he steps up this year I see no reason to change my mind.

Quite frankly I don't even believe the Tongans are behind this whole plot. The fact of the matter is that, as of now, the sides in this Bullet Club Civil War are Tonga, Roa, Fale, Meng, Hikuleo and likely Taiji Ishimori (Tonga did recruit him after all) against Kenny, Cody, Ibushi, the Bucks, Hangman, Marty, Chase and Yujiro. Unless my math is off that's a 9 to 6 differential right there, and that's before you remember that a) Meng is probably not working New Japan full time (if at all) and b) Hikuleo just tore his ACL back in March and isn't coming back any time soon. So in reality it's a 9 to 4 differential. The point is there's going to be more people added to the Firing Squad side and I get the feeling it will wind up being a big name who winds up the leader instead of Tama Tonga. My best guesses right now would either be Jericho, Ibushi in a devastating turn against Omega or, on the off chance he does leave WWE in September, Bryan Danielson. Even if it isn't someone of that stature, I just can't shake the feeling that there will be more people added and something big will occur to throw another loop into this angle.

I could see someone being added but I don't think this group is gonna main event the Dome show no matter who they made the leader so to speak... so it just makes you wonder where they go with it and who they get.

I know Cult brought up Ibushi but personallly, I wouldn't like the turn happening until at the earliest the Dome show. Still think there's plenty you could do to build the Golden lovers.